Thanks very much Terry,
I'm forwarding your mail to the TECHNICAL newsgroup for PPS. We
now have working mailing lists (listproc) at BBK and this is the most
efficient way to get questions answered. So this question will be seen
by a lot of people and they may reply:
- yes, we have the same problem
- we *don't* have the same problem, even with the same technology
- we know all about it and here's the fix.
- we know all about it and there *isn't* a fix :-(
- or something else!
So, I hope that people will respond to your query. Here are some guidelines:
JOIN THE MAILING LIST
The replies will be posted to the mailing list so you will have
to read it. That can be done
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EITHER by subscribing as follows:
mail to: listproc@www.cryst.bbk.ac.uk
and IN THE BODY OF THE MESSAGE PUT A SINGLE LINE:
subscribe vsns-pps-technical TerryWalsh
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OR reading the htmlised pages under the course URL->E-mail discussions.
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DESCRIBING PROBLEMS
Firstly DO NOT FEEL GUILTY ABOUT REPORTING PROBLEMS. IGNORANCE IS NOT A
CRIME IN PPS! WE HAVE ALL MADE STUPID MISTAKES. So, don't even worry
about asking "Is the RETURN key the one marked ENTER?" (I have just been
showing a university lecturer in a technology subject how to use a mouse.)
PLEASE DESCRIBE YOUR PROBLEMS AS ACCURATELY AS POSSIBLE.
A message "XYZZY doesn't work with PPS" is almost useless. Interactive
problems are NOT easy to debug but please try as hard as possible to give
A message "XYZZY doesn't work with PPS" is almost useless. Interactive
problems are NOT easy to debug but please try as hard as possible to give
an accurate description of:
- what equipment you have
- what software you are using
- (if from course material) the page and link where the problem
occurred
- what you tried to do
- what the symptoms of the problem are
- any messages of any sort that were issued.
(please do NOT mail core dumps, stack traces ,etc !!!)
- is the problem repeatable?
- are there other people doing the same thing who Do/DON'T have the
problem?
PLEASE REPLY TO THE LIST IF THE PROBLEM IS A NEW ONE
Replies to the questioner are not seen by the list and it is very
likely the whole thing will come up again. So please reply to the list
and copy in the questioner (they may not have subscribed). The lists are
also publicly readable so that non-course-members may read this and offer
help.
PLEASE MAKE THE LIST TRAFFIC READABLE
The list is htmlised and if YOU keep good list discipline, it is
very effective to read through a thread. So:
Do NOT start a new thread (Subject:) unless it really is new. So,
for example, the next thread will be about Terry's problems
I shall call it ACCESSING BIOMOO. That means that if, 3
months later, someone has a related problem, they should
still use this thread
Do NOT include large anounts of previous messages. Think of your
replies going into an FAQ or similar document - not highly
formal, but not a complete mess. You should never have more
of a previous message than your own.
Read what has been said before. Obvious, but often broken.
NEVER NEVER FLAME ANYONE ON THIS COURSE, HOWEVER APPARENTLY STUPID
OR IRRITATING. If there are any problems of inappropriate
postings, leave it to the course organisers - mail THEM first
P.
Peter Murray-Rust (pmr1716@ggr.co.uk) Glaxo Research & Development, Greenford,UK
mbglx@seqnet.dl.ac.uk, http://www.dl.ac.uk/CBMT/pmr.html (Thanks to AlanBleasby)